One month left...........

Time is going so fast and there is so much I still want to do.  I want to visit other orphanages and spend some time at a project for street children in Mwanza.  They have a project where 47 boys from 5-17 are living and going to school.  I have met some of the volunteers and it is a great project.  The boys also make jewellry which is beautiful.

This week I went to another community called Igoma - the town of Stouffville, Ontario is a partner of the Health Centre there and they have been raising money since 2004 - Mr. Matari showed me around and it is great.  They do a lot of prenatal care, childbirth, have two doctors, and will be expanding soon to do small surgeries.  I have heard about this from my clients in Stouffville and it was great to visit and hear about the great work they are doing.  People come from far villages to seek treatment which is mostly free.

This coming week, I am doing child development workshops for the Bethany teenagers who are training at the orphanage - these girls are wonderful and will hopefully find a job and be independent once they finish training.  I am looking forward to this opportunity - also have a translator but most speak some English.

I am working harder than I have worked in a long time - it is physically exhausting but I have just as much energy as the 20 year olds.  They have all been sick and I have yet to be ---let's hope that continues.

I am still in awe of the work that Amy and her staff do here.  I am learning so much about life in Africa.  I am grateful to live in Canada - we take so much for granted - like health care and education......I am attaching two pictures - one of Catherine (from the UK) and myself wearing Kanga's and carrying babies on our backs the way people do here.  The Mama's were laughing to hard putting the babies on our backs- my baby is very small so hard to see.  The other picture is me and two of my favourite twins -  they are three months old and beautiful.  They have elderly grandparents who are very, very poor - the babies might go back to family at some point.  That is always the goal, if possible.  Adoption is nearly impossible - it takes now three years for international adoption and the parents have to live here during that time.  Everything here takes a long, long time.........